29. The Roots, 'How I Got Over'

Def Jam

In 2010, the Roots kicked ass five nights a week as the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and teamed up with John Legend for the Seventies-soul tribute Wake Up! But their most impressive accomplishment this year was How I Got Over, the best album of their two-decade-long career. It's an expansive and thrillingly funky album about hard times that tosses in street reportage and gospel uplift — as well as dashes of indie rock from guests including Joanna Newsom, Monsters of Folk and members of the Dirty Projectors.